AHMEDABAD: A metropolitan court sent a social activist on Saturday Teesta Setalvad and the former Gujarat DGP RB Sekumar to judicial custody 14 days after the end of their custody questioning and the newly established Special Investigation Team (SIT) did not ask for further pre-trial detention.
On his way to Sabarmati central prison, Setalvad raised a question about his safety in prison and his lawyer Somnath vats he submitted a question to the court, stating that there were many people who were convicted for their role in the post-Godhra riots due to the efforts of the Setalvad NGO. Some of them are also female detainees, Vats said and urged the court to give directions for her safety in prison.
To this, prosecutor Mitesh Amin objected and claimed that she is not an extraordinary criminal or a prisoner who would need security in prison. If this request is heard, any detainee will go to court to seek safety in prison. Upon hearing this, the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate MV Chauhan ordered for the appropriate arrangements for his safety in accordance with the prison manual.
Setalvad and Sreekumar had been in police custody on court orders since June 26 after being arrested the day before on suspicion of fabricating conspiracy evidence for the 2002 Gujarat riots.
After their production in court, Judge Chauhan asked both defendants if they had any complaints about the interrogation period in custody. To this, she Setalvad said she had to make statements on a few occasions, but for this she was held in custody for six days. “There were always five to six policemen standing guard like I was a very dangerous person,” she said.
Sreekumar asked the court to direct investigators to register his statement, at least under Section 164 of the CrPC (statements recorded by a magistrate). The magistrate rejected the request and said that there is no provision under the law that a defendant can insist on the registration of his statement.
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